Just Desserts are Bitter Sweet [Anarchy! Mini-event]

[Michi]

EDITED: Clarification given includes the fact that the sugar was just sugar and that the person that exploded was not exploded by the sugar but by the villain.

While a pair of gladiators fought off mooks beyond the threshold of the shop, Shiori had thought she found the source of the chaos. The blind-cupcake-loving Takahashi had not found her target behind the fortified counter but she had thought that one of those large bags of sugar looked a bit suspicious... She quickly attacked her saccharine foe, a cloud of confectioner's sugar was launched out of the shop and into the crowd. Was it the sugar? Apparently not. The sizzle of melting flesh was not audible; she could still hear the gruesome changes and the final astonishingly dull *pop* that ended the poor miscreant's suffering. Shiori would have tried to bandage him if there was anything left. No wait, them. Shiori's face dropped, her neck shortened as if she was a turtle retracting back into its shell as others suffered, some only in part, the first puddle's fate.

She grimaced and cupped her hands over her ears as Kuro's barrier was fractured and a wave of maddened people tried to claw their way inside. When she uncovered her earsGross... That tendon is not supposed to be exposed. There was probably more of that one's jaw this morning. Some of it was probably done in the fray, some of it from the random meltiness and the random men coming down with a sad case of explosions. Hopefully it was not contagious.

Why did he explode? Melting is usually a product of a chemical reaction such as an acid. Exploding using involves a combustive force. There really is no reason for someone to be both doused in acid and carrying a bomb, was there? Maybe it was a jutsu or an illusion to befuddle her. She had no more time to ponder this phenomena. As the crowd rushed the door she prepared herself for the onslaught of crazed fiends. Strange, the senses were regained by at least some of these deranged aggressors. Was this the power of sugar? Carbs are supposed to be bad for you. "What did you make this powdery stuff out of?" Shiori called out to Olgav as she quickly attempted to find more sanity-powder. If she found some she would shove a handful of it into her mouth, be it flour, sugar, salt or other grainy substance. She would spit it out regardless of the actual substance unless said substance was chocolate. Chocolate is always welcome.

Shiori started to do the only thing she could think of: throw more sanity powder at the crowd. If there was none, she would simply cast a wind jutsu in hopes that she would create a dust bowl-like effect to either pick up the sugar or to simulate a visually obstructing effect. IF sugar was simply sugar, flour or other bakery ingredient, she had no reason to believe that it held a mystical property. If the people were healed, partially recovered, or somehow cognizant of their surroundings with what she was doing, she would obviously continue her actions. She would only cease if one of three possible scenarios were to erupt: there is nothing more to toss at the people and whatever laid on the ground was blown away, she discovered a pattern that would require a reassessment of the situation, OR the goods she found did nothing except blanket the area in now unusable (unless the sanitation code was no longer being adhered to) baked goods and supplies. The later option was possible, meaning she wasted not only resources but precious time. While she attempted to defend the bakery in her own way, her allies outside were hopefully doing a better job.

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

It seemed very little changed over the night...perhaps things calmed down somewhat, maybe it was him adjusting and trying to focus more on the important tasks...though they were still far from what he really wanted to do. The night he spent in the house of the family he saved was somewhat restless, with them being shaken up even more then him. he tried his best to have a good night’s sleep along with his companion Oleg. It was hard to see from the men just how he was feeling. He seemed jovial and calm, yet it was clear he cared for his family. He had to be worried sick...and so must have been his own family, since this would be a day since he was last home in the middle of a war zone. Still, one thing at a time. Once the brother was safe and he could ensure Oleg would help them (at least he hoped that would be possible) he would try and figure out the rest.

As soon as they both got up in the morning and ensuring the family would be relatively save, they headed towards the direction of the bakery, according to Hiro's directions. After a bit of deliberation and convincing, he had the younger men stay with the family for a bit more. He didn’t want to send him on his way home alone, and he certainly didn’t want taking him with them, without knowing what they could possibly face. And it made sure the family was a bit safer for the time being as well. He promised to escort him home as soon as he helped Oleg. Which was a rather broad promise...with everything that has been going on, it was hard to think in a positive manner.

As they moved through the village, he couldn’t shake of the feeling something was a bit of. For one it seemed the closer they were to the baker, the situation became calmer. Buildings were ruined an people were still hiding in their homes, but there seemed to be less thugs intent on trying to bother them. While it was somewhat reliving, he knew they couldn’t have just vanished...And then the first explosions rocked the area. He rushed towards the sound, the mercenary right behind him. Quite soon, his frees turned out to be true…though really, by this point it seemed to be some kind of nightmarish over exaggeration of what he was expecting. A few thugs, a dozen, maybe…but this was a regular warzone. And behind it all was a pink little shop, Senti-Mints…

As he observed the chaotic battle, he could see the mass of people seemed to be focusing around two particular ones. While he did not recognized one of the fighters standing against them, it didn’t take much to notice the other one was none other the Toranao Kuro. It was a strange place to see him…but seeing a fellow Shinobi finally put some hope into the mind of the Sunaku. Turning quickly to Oleg he would say “The two people fending of the mob are my friends. Help them, and I’ll go and see if your brother is inside the bakery. Just be careful” before he bolted up into the air.

He would use his chakra to scale along the side of the building, above the fighting forces. It seemed the crowd was focused on the other ‘s, and Oleg would probably cause even more chaos, which he hoped would allow him to get to the bakery smoother. From there he could support them all both in attacking and defending, whichever would be needed more. Besides, he could see people running from the bakery, so he fared there could have been trouble there. Assuming things moved smoothly along the way he would end up landing before the bakery, quickly turning to see what was going on inside…and perhaps seeing pastries whizzing through the air courtesy of Shiori.

Mft, Wc= 656

(Entering with Oleg, who Haru came across in this topic)

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo's eyes jumped from person to person as his manifested fighting spirit washed over them, observing and recording any of the smallest details of movement and change in them. What should have been a blast that would have shaken even potentially skilled and veteran fighters passed through them as easily as a gentle breeze and that was only the beginning of the immediate problems that his eyes reported to him as the information came flooding in. He watched as the strange chakra source which he'd noted in the crowd of his on-rushing attackers morph into the visage of a man he hadn't seen before and then transform back before surging away from the men that he'd attempted to overwhelm with his fighting power... but more worrisome than that was the myriad of tiny pin-pricks of chakra strewn about their attire and bodies.

It could have meant a number of things. In a normal battle, Katsuo might be worried about some kind of chakra-enhanced limbs or armor. But in this case with a league of untrained criminals being used as pawns there was only one likely possibility. He was not a shinobi himself but as Katsuo hailed from a clan that observed many similar teachings and skills as those taught in Sunagakure, he was well aware of most of the various equipment and technology at the disposal of the average ninja. While it was far from a certainty, the appearance of those small sources of chakra all over the pawn's bodies revealed that they were quite likely harboring a great deal of Explosive Notes-- small tags of paper inscribed with special chakra-laden seals which could be prompted to detonate in a number of different ways if charged correctly. A skilled demolitionist had no less than four separate ways to set up and effectively wield such weapons and none of them required close proximity to do so.

Disarming them was possible but not in the number that they were present. Katsuo was fast, certainly but his ability to perceive chakra was not as precise as other types of doujutsu no matter how advanced his Zenjingan had become. There was no way he could pinpoint each one of the bombs and successfully defeat them before the terrorist leader got wind of what he was doing and decided to detonate them. He might survive the blast but in the process several men whose only mistake here had been being captured by Oroku would be dead as well and he would definitely be worse for the wear. Still, he couldn't ignore them either. If he went after the chakra signal which disappeared into the crowd of men, there was nothing stopping the guy controlling the group from rushing the bomb-wielding men into the bakery which they seemed to be attacking and killing even more people.

Against a rational opponent with any sort of morality, this was have been the worst kind of situation.

If you cut down the ones carrying the weaponized seals, you may prevent them from bringing down the bakery.

The spirit of Tatsumasa was right but it wasn't fair that Katsuo was even considering condemning potentially innocent men to death simply for the crime of poor circumstance on their part. Oroku claimed that these were criminals but for all they knew the hypnotized men could just be folk that he picked up off the street and pressed into his service. What sort of leader could simply throw aside the lives of the people he wanted to protect? More than that, what sort of man would he be if he went back on his ideals so quickly when faced with a problem?

[SCENE BGM]

"No. I can do this." He said quietly, apparently to no-one for anyone who could possibly overhear him. "Have to try."

Then you have my support. I will protect you if necessary. Explained the spirit and Katsuo simply offered a nod. He had no way of knowing how she intended to protect him but he didn't have time to ask, much less for her to explain. He had to trust in her just as he had when he'd faced the sand golem. There was no way he could hope to take each one of the Explosive Notes before they exploded. But he was going to try. If he did nothing, these men would die anyway and possibly take lots of other people with them. He'd made the assumption that there was no way he could disable all of the Explosive Notes under what were his old limits. With the power of his new eyes and the support of the spirit of Tatsumasa, he felt almost as if he could do anything. No... together they could do anything.

Sliding his foot forward, Katsuo took a stance for a moment and the punishing aura of his chakra surged as he released it into the first of a rapid succession of techniques. Five sparks of energy materialized out of his energy and took form, all standing around him with their arms crossed across their chest as he'd been standing before and then were off in a blur of motion of their own and each armed with a mission. Katsuo was hardly a skilled user of Ninjutsu but he'd long ago learned from his mother how to utilize his limited skills in such ways to augment his other skills. This particular technique generated several solid images of chakra which normally would have sought to attack in various directions in order to confuse the opponent but this time their aim wasn't to attack-- it was to snatch. Each of the clones, Katsuo right behind them, raced forward with blinding speed with the intention of grabbing and smashing as many of the Explosive Notes as possible before Oroku caught wind of his attention and began to detonate them. With the pinpoint accuracy of the evolved Zenjingan and his overbearing aura trying to hold the men in place, it would be a challenge but he had to succeed if they were going to get through this.

[Katsuo is using Dance of the Waxing Moon to make limited clones of himself and then shoving as many removals as possible into the context of a Limit Break while maintaining Devastating Aura. The spirit of Tatsumasa intends to protect Katsuo's body with Susanoo. I have a feeling this is going to blow up in my face but I can't think of any other way he'd handle this.]

 

[Raizo]

The madness that was happening before seemed to suddenly exacerbate into full on chaos within mere moments. Explosions of white smoke-like substance, mad rushes of individuals and then random screaming of others. So much to account for, so much to worry about.

Maybe I should just kill off the lot. It would calm the scene down, it would be easy with my arsenal. But...

His eyes continued to watch the scene play out. These people, much to the word of the man before, seemed to be under some sort of trance and whatever was happening was knocking them back to reality. If they were truly innocent of perpetrating this attack who is to say their affiliation wasn't drastically different before their encounter with Oroku, what if they were never criminals to begin with and were just picked up.

I guess I still have some humanity left in me...

He had killed so far and had done so with fading amounts of remorse, but even in his murder he had the belief that he was fighting for justice to keep him persevering. In this moment he could not find that remorse. This incident could only be finished in one way, killing the puppet master.

"Clones... use the transformation skills to take on the appearance of the dead up here. I will be going out, if you hear me call out "rainbow" then you are to begin raining down the explosive just behind the line of human waves. Looking for confusion, not death. If I happen to call out "thunder" you are to hurdle as many of the explosives into the air as quickly as possible. If I yell out "atonement" you are to try and lock onto my location and consume me in the projectiles."

With several sets of nods among the different versions of himself it would appear they were in agreeance. With that the original Kasha would leave his clones, who prepared their jutsu to transform their appearance, to make his way out of the building. Making his way down the opposite hallway of the second floor, he would find a window on the opposite end of the house and slowly climb out from it and slip up to the roof. His body would remain lower as he crawled across the rooftop looking for any signs of Oroku. Military-wise and advantage-wise it would make sense for the leader of these meat puppets to be up high. The probability of him being on this roof was low but hopefully being up even just a little bit higher would help him in his search. peering over the ledge of the roof his eyes would remained focused upon the buildings and their rooftops. He was no longer wanting to see the battle below, he wanted to keep his eyes scanning everything that was above the ground. Oroku had to be around here somewhere, right?

Give it some time and if there is no change or no sign I will have to move to the next step.

MFT - 504

 

[Sand Council]

Oleg​

The two approached the avenue that Hiro had indicated and they observed numerous fleeing faces. Oleg grabbed one by his shirt and held him up before him like a child might a small stuffed animal. "Little man know where Olgav is?" There was a few panicked words, but nothing coherent. After a forceful shake that probably scrambled the captives brains he pointed down the street he had just fled from. Before his feet even hit the ground, he was already running. The moment Oleg let go he was off at a sprint. They ran swiftly and the massive behemoth nodded to Harupia.

"Harupia help Oleg. Oleg help Harupia. It is happy circle!" Sandman, as he was known to Oleg blurred away as ninja often do and left the large man to his own devices. Stomping down the road, the street would shake lightly at his presence. To those seeing his approach he would appear a juggernaut clad in leather armor, but those with sharper eyes than the average would notice a striking resemblance to the baker just inside the establishment. He hit the mob of people and attackers flew in random direction as if he were batting away softballs.

"You leave brother Olgav alone!" Large hands reached up and plucked away people from the broken window, tossing them aside with relative ease. A surprised cheer echoed from inside the bakery.

Olgav​

"Brother Oleg! Best timing as you have. Show them what we can do."

More baked good weapons rocketed out from the open weapon, pegging people and tossing them back. Instantly, the gather pack criminals swarmed the large man and he fought to pull them off.

Then there was a sudden rush of wind attacks. Kuro's launched all of the breathable air outward and Shiori's pushed more in creating an interesting, but forceful push-pull gale. Several bags of powdered sugar surged forth as well and soon a half of the mob was coated in white dust. It toppled the lot of attackers and thanks to Katsuo's aura, many had trouble getting back up, their recovery times severely reduced. In all of that where had the valiant Katsuo gone? The fraction of a second it took to launch those powerful attacks he was moving at speeds few could follow. A shinobi had as many limits as they placed upon themselves, but it was clear that Katsuo had no problem peeling away the norms and going in as deep as he could to attain victory. A good seventy-five percent of the notes had been snatched away before a slightly upset huff sounded.

One that Roku would hear...Across the way was a man clad in black and purple, wearing a trademark eye-patch and his vicious smirk. While the infamous Kasha had a clear visual on his target, he had heard the noise as clear as day right next to him. Whatever he would decide to do he needed to do it then.

Screams began to echo outward, not from one person, but from many. Skin bubbled and bodies began to burst, spraying acid-like liquids on anyone near. The explosive notes, despite Katuso's best effort detonated where they stood, obliterating everything in a fifty foot radius around them. Katsuo's clones were not so fortunate, nor their creator, but a brilliant golden aura embraced his form and protected him from the attack, leaving only his senses rattled.

Seconds is what people had to make. Some of the mob maintained their heading towards the bakery. Oleg and Kuro doing their best to dissuade them, but finding the numbers to be overwhelming. Some started the early stages of Oroku's disgusting chemical bomb and were immediately pummeled away. Some even came to their senses and crawled away under Katsuo's presence; some unfortunately not making it far enough from some of the exploding madmen. One thing was clear, Oroku intended to leave no one standing.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Sharingan Kuro took it all in stride, his eyes were not as advanced as Katsuo's own but the depths of power they drew from could make a quite few sandwyrms tremble in fear as his bestial senses took note of the explosions his kinetic energies would deflect the acidic portion away allowing the energy rippling forth from the massive chain explosion to grant him even further insight into the nature of kinetic movement and chakra usage. All at once it made sense to him using the potential of the earth instead of the wind and the concentrated wrath of flame Kuro and all his aspects experienced a new phenomenon as they all learned explosive chakra release as Sharingan Kuro imparted the knowledge of its flow to them all as he witness and recorded the effects of the chemical caused explosions of the mobs under Oroku's influence. Then with his bestial sense of sight he flickered through the crowds’ chakra patterns and for a brief moment caught a glimpse of Oroku before he was being pushed back by the mob of exploding victims. With a sigh of resignation and a flash of inspiration Sharingan Kuro began a build-up of explosive chakra to deflect their own imminent attacks using his Demon beast King Sharingan for the perfect timing while his sword flickered effortlessly battering the masses before him with his kinetic infusion allowing him to use fist techniques with his blade in a debilitating manner. Frustrated with only being able to defend the shop in this manner Kuro and his aspects lamented that they could not simply show up in teams to every incident and with near omnipotent force stop all the riots and crimes.

With an intensity that only Katsuo could notice Sharingan Kuro began to channel and mold the flame chakra and earth chakra within him as he began a double jutsu the likes of which these men nor himself had ever seen. With a quick flicker of will he placed a redirection barrier upon Shiori trusting Olgav and what could be mistaken for his twin to be able to keep themselves alive with only the barest of energy barriers Sharingan Kuro set himself to put out fire with fire or in this case explosion with explosion.

There were no words to be said as Sharingan Kuro even bruised and battered continued to heal. Oroku had to be stopped soon.

Spoiler

(Advanced Element Explosion RP post for after ASP purchases are approved)

WC: 400
MFD (Marked for Dojo)

 

[Mikaboshi]

Katsuo's satisfaction with the disgruntled "hrmph" that issued from the air around him was short-lived as the small amount of explosive devices which he'd failed to recover detonated in his face reducing everything in the blast zone to rubble and burnt gore... except for him. Even with his hyper-enhanced precognition, Katsuo had no time to dodge. The blast that issued forth from the paper bombs was nearly instantaneous and consumed space far quicker than he could have hoped to push himself out of the way. There was simply nothing he could do but bear the brunt of it and hope for the best. But as the explosive wave rushed towards him, there was a stabbing pain in the back of his eyes and the world around him was bathed in a singular golden light that pushed backwards against the explosion and protected his body from it.

The smell of burned flesh and sulfur wafted past his nostrils as the smoke cleared from the explosion and the light from the protective measure that the spirit of Tatsumasa had erected around his body scythed through the spoiled air. Feeling a tear of blood stream down his face from the strain of the technique that the spirit of Tatsumasa had apparently used to save his life, Katsuo reached up and touched his cheek and then looked down at his fingers as his mind reeled from both the surprise of being totally unharmed by the blast and the rage that was beginning to boil in the pit of his stomach. Oroku had murdered the men that Katsuo was trying to save despite his best efforts. Perhaps even in spite of them, even. Those poor souls burned and died without likely even knowing why and certainly lacking the choice to be here. Katsuo clenched his fists uselessly as he fought to overcome the wrathful outrage towards Oroku's callous disregard for life. With the stabbing pain in his eyes growing more intense by the moment, Katsuo sucked in a harsh breath and then released it rapidly to calm his rapidly deteriorating emotional state and to calm his chakra. He had no idea how to wield the golden power that the spirit of Tatsumasa had released but by calming his mind the crushing weight of his chakra and the golden light protecting his body faded away.

He would ask the spirit of Tatsumasa later what it was that she'd used to protect him but right now he didn't have time for a jutsu lesson. Men had just died ugly deaths because of his inability to act in a decisive manner and he had no intention of letting it continue. Oroku was not among the crowd as he'd originally led them to believe which meant he was probably hiding somewhere in the surrounding architecture. Perhaps because Oroku had not expected someone to be present who could physically see chakra or because he lacked the skill to do anything about it, the criminal had left behind a clear trail for the demon hunter to follow and that seemed to be his sole path. The bakery could sustain itself a little bit longer with those defending it-- he needed to go after Oroku now or more people were going to die.

With his heart and his mind cleared, or at the very least brought to a momentary stand-still, Katsuo focused his vision and his skills to hone in on the trail of chakra energy that he'd seen before with the intent of following it to it's source. If Oroku was really controlling these men remotely through his chakra then he would undoubtedly be able to find him regardless of where he hid in the crowd or the surrounding architecture.

[Katsuo is focusing his attention on tracking the chakra trail he located in one of the previous rounds and seeking out the source of it. If it turns out to be Oroku, his goal is to apprehend the criminal or at least disrupt his controlling methods by attacking him.]

 

[Raizo]

Everything continued to ensue down below, an image of chaos. There was so much going on that even while trying to ignore the situation he would still get some glimpse of explosions from his peripheral. He had to keep blocking it out, he had to keep searching and that was when finally something occurred; the sound of a person and the appearance of a person. Unfortunately, they did not happen in the same location. The sound was next to him while his visual was before him. This was going to prove troublesome for Roku.

Ok, the voice was next to me but I can clearly see Oroku before me. His voice has been dancing around this entire time, he made a point to show that at the beginning, but his appearance has also been a fake out. So which is it? Is he tossing his voice and that is his true body before me, is he casting another decoy and hiding in camouflage so his voice is the correct location of him? What if, what if it is neither and he is using both auditory and visual decoys? Damn it, this isn't the time to think. This is the time to act. What are the pros and cons... no, no, no... fuck this. It's time to do, I'm a doer damn it!

His hand would grab the hilt of his katana as chakra would surge outward from his hand and into the blade. Swiftly he would send a slash swiping out towards the location of the huff before leaping backwards and back into the shadows. This was a taijutsu attack known as Whisperer, which was basically a technique for utilizing hit-and-runs. The chakra placed into the blade was another technique known as Chakra Extension, which would increasing the cutting range of the blade in hopes of landing a strike. All he needed was a single strike.

The attack was one designed with remaining in stealth, so after striking he would enter back into the shadows of the night and buildings around. He still had options but he hoped that this first decision, this instinctive gut call would work. If not, well hell that just meant he had to do something a little more...

reckless.

 

[Michi]

Shiori emptied whatever powdery stores that awaited her behind the counter moments earlier, whatever effect it had, if any, was all she would get for now. She made her way around the counter and towards the fray. There was nothing left inside the building, wrought with destruction and death the perimeter of the store was laced with dangerous individuals. People were melting and/or going *boom* Was the powder a neutralizing agent? It really did not appear so, considering that first melty man that went *pop*. It seemed as if some of the people got better when doused in a cloud of sugar, part of her wondered if it was the chemical sugar, the obscurity of the cloud cover visually or physically that altered the zombie-like state these people underwent.

If it was visual obscurity, her song would have done the trick. The darkness her song summoned in the mind of her opponent should have severed the visual link of a doujutsu. Perhaps there was a difference between physical and mental eye-contract? There was also the physical coating of the sugar. Did the physical presence of the sugar somehow end the mad-man's control over these people or did it serve as a catalyst for their gruesome fates? Would something like a dust storm have any effect? She had already launched a barrage of wind-based ninjutsus that carried with it a saccharine arsenal already. These puppets were not the real threat, sacks of meat to serve as a living hostages that are being sacrificed one at a time. Was the shop even a target? Why would anyone want to attack a cupcake shop? Was this more a posturing than an actual attempt? IF he wanted to destroy the shop, he would have made the store blow-up as several people already had or douse the baker in whatever it is that he uses to melt these human puppets.

She maintained a gust of wind, if the brief visual obscurity, the chemical introduction or the physical coating or proximity was of any effect, there was no reason to falter. Besides her illusions which have been proven woefully useless within the initial moments of the battle and the fact that these people were exploding leaving little for her to heal, her wind ninjutsu would truly provide minimal effect less the potential that the sugar had some sort of effect. What else was there left to do? Monologues were already given. She really had nothing to do but try to verbally engage the bad man. "You're making no sense!" Shiori yelled over the whirling winds. "You're attacking a cupcake shop with all this effort!" He was flinging his meat puppets recklessly at the shinobis and then disposing of them in the most brutal fashion possible. The only conceivable outcome was simply destruction for destruction's sake. If that was the case, then this would not stop until there was nothing left to destroy or there was nothing to destroy with.

"What is your end goal!" She yelled attempting to engage him at some point. Hopefully the others were also actively searching out this villain, but he was very mobile or so that was what her ears had perceived. That was why she tried to find him in the store, someplace out of the way. If he was not in the store, he had to be in the crowd. Perhaps he was next to one of the shinobis.

[Shiori attempts to maintain a low-level wind ninjutsu and attempts to talk at Oroku. Hopefully this will make Oroku noticeable to one of the guys on the field.]

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

Harupia couldn’t help but feel like a true shadow right now, seemingly missed by everyone, though to be fair, there was a lot to take in, in between the general chaos and the massive twin of the baker coming in to tip the scales. Still, it seemed for all intents and purposes, the inside of the shop was safe, Olgav himself assisting in any way he could, with another women being inside. Tough looking fragile, he could see her direct the gusts of wind, raining the powder sugar outside. It seemed they had a sizable group here, what was left was to clean up the whole mess...and just as he thought that, things got much more messy.

The explosion was sudden, though he could catch a glimpse of the skin of some of the attackers starting to bubble in a sickening way. Still, the explosion surprised him, with him not begin able to set up a proper defense for the shop, the sand rising up just enough to defend him from the blast. Luckily, it seemed the explosion was neutered enough not to reach it for the most part. All that did was the blood and gore of those who were either exploded or were unlucky enough to be caught in the blast. So much death, needles death...and even more confusion. Who would attack a bakery with such determination to let himself be blown up for it?

Regardless of reasons, the assault did not show signs of relenting after the explosion. And it seemed that the ones in the front lines were being overwhelmed slowly, even if part of the thugs decided to retreat by now. Still, many did not, and he needed to assist. Haru stepped closer to the ongoing battle, the ground under him starting to swirl and form around him., and that further away shifting it form as well. In the middle of the group attacking the bakery he would create a large Sinkhole, slowly dragging the thugs closer to it down into the ground. At the same time, large clumps of sand would rise form the ground, the projectiles mainly aimed at the attackers causing most grief to those caught in the melee with his other companions. Some might see this as a cowardly way of fighting, but Haru knew his strengths. He could cause much more damage from here than simply casting himself in the middle of the battle.

Mft, Wc= 404

(Using Antlion Sinkhole as well as firing out Sand Missile’s in the smaller, more accurate version at any enemies attacking those gatherd.

 

[Sand Council]

Oleg | Olgav​

Troubles finally pushed aside, Oleg used his impressive girth to block the entrance created by the shattered window. Large hands punched and whirled, beating away any who intended an easy entry, finding it to be quite difficult. They didn't relent, as they hadn't when Katsuo attempted his scare tactics. While Olgav might have been a nicer person at his core, it was clear that his brother Oleg was a weathered veteran of combat and did not care for playing nice when sides were black and white enough as the cookies served in the bakery just behind him. One side intended to hurt the other and one side had his brother on it. Kuro remained steadfast at the front door, blunted blade still being put to good use and sweeping away attackers.

Although the efforts so far had been great, none had really gained any traction. That was until Harupia saw fit to remove all possibility of traction. Sinkhole engulfed attackers and they clawed and thrashed in an attempt to get at their target. This was an effective form of crowd control from someone who had just emerged from the concrete jungle, an unexpected tax on their numbers in the lane--or avenue--they were fighting in. In there struggles, more bodies began to bloat and explode in the twisted chemical shower of acidic body fluids, consuming others near them. Luckily, Harupia's tactic saved any of his allies from falling to the attacks.

Katsuo had locked on the chakra signature and began to notice more finite details about it. Within the trail were tiny, nearly transparent strings that hovered above the battlefield, tugging and pulling all of those below as they failed to escape the pit trap. There was a clear focal point and as Katsuo moved towards it, there was cursing in a familiar, egotistical voice.

Kasha's blade had landed true, and before he could see anything, blood dripped onto the rooftop and from the curved blade he held. As if a sheet had been held up in front of his, Oroku was apparent and right before the assassin. There was little time to react, a flurry of black rose petals whirled around him and he launched them into the shadows where his attacker had retreated. From the concealing darkness, Kasha moved and avoided the razor sharp flora and lest he be engulfed, he tumbled away from his cover and brandished his katana. Face-to-face, Roku stared down Oroku, the man who dared sully his name by adding an 'O' to it!

Oroku<i></i>​

While a face-off seemed imminent, Katsuo appeared in the air behind the villain cornering him between the two vigilante. Several large thorns appeared in the hands of Oroku, dripping with sickly green liquids and he tossed a barrage in either direction before his pursuers moved in to attack. They would find even a grazing blow would steadily make their muscles stiff and lethargic in a fraction of a second and grow outward. Dodge Dodge Dodge!

Nearly all of the gathered attackers were trapped inside the sandman's pit, in a sick form of acidic blender as, one-by-one, they popped and consumed others. They would all slowly die if left there, Kasha could finished them all off with his clones and their explosive notes, or they could attempt to rescue them and risk carrying a bomb in their arms. A dusting of the powdered sugar would reveal that some were still coming around from the brainwashing and finding themselves in a hellish situation. Would someone take the risk?

 

[Mikaboshi]

[SCENE BGM]

His face dripping with blood which streamed from his eyes, Katsuo's form swerved and with a shuffle of stepping slipped past the salvo of envenomed spikes. Oroku was alone, rushed and attacking two targets at once. Even with his diminished eyesight from the damage that summoning the golden power had caused to him, Katsuo had been able to see the terrorist reaching for his ranged weaponry long before the attack had left his fingertips. Clenching his fists as his anger burned hotly in his stomach again, the air in Katsuo's immediate vicinity grew hot as his fighting spirit manifested itself once more in a golden halo of glittering fire flowing from his shoulders.

Again and again Katsuo had witnessed crimes being perpetrated. Watched Sunagakure burn. He hadn't grown up there but some piece of him howled in grief and rage over the visceral rape of the city which he'd been born to protect. Perhaps it was some attachment to his father's legacy. Or maybe it was just the inhumanity of it all. But in that moment with Oroku standing right in front of him, it was difficult for him to contain the outrage towards the needless deaths that had been occurring in the city since the Cabal had taken over and the terrorist in front of him had suddenly became the focal point of all that negative emotion.

"Don't move. Not even an inch." Growled Katsuo, his voice heavy with rapidly expending chakra.

He stared at Oroku with his expression ripe with conviction and through the chakra which poured from his body a silent energy was sent through the command that he issued to Oroku. If the terrorist so much as glimpsed Katsuo's gilded eyes, the command would root itself in his mind and struggle against his will in an effort to force him to comply. This was one of the gifts of the Masashi; the power to command the will of opponentst but one that Katsuo had never been able to leverage properly before. A student of the body and the spirit, Katsuo never had much skill or use for things like illusions or psychic attacks. But in this moment where his instinct toppled all reason and with the aid of the spirit of Tatsumasa, he was accessing powers that he'd never been capable of wielding before with any level of skill. The illusionary technique worked by insidiously invading the subconscious of the target and causing the victim's very own mind to betray itself by suggesting and then following the command that the Masashi wished for them to follow. But this variation on that was something else entirely. Katsuo lacked the discipline for such a nuanced attack and thus the assault on Oroku's mind was not one of subtlety, it was one of raw force. The weight of Katsuo's outrage and frustration would come crashing down upon Oroku if his ability to resist such an attack failed him stripping him of his capacity to move or fight back.

But such things were not of relevance to the last scion of the Sunahoshi. The only thing that mattered to him now was ending the conflict outside and bringing a halt to the siege of the bakery. Perhaps some of the men that Oroku had conscripted into his service could still be saved. Katsuo did not like to kill. It was not his ideal method of solving problems and preferred peaceful solutions to bloody ones. But he was not a total fool. He recognized that there were men in the country of Wind which could not be reasoned with. They led hollow lives which twisted the lives of others around them as they drifted through the world bringing nothing but misery and suffering in their wake. Agents of chaos and discord, one and all.

As he focused all of his ire upon Oroku, pain welled once more behind his eyes and then raced down his spine and settled into his extremities. Something about the power he'd received was rapidly going haywire. The powers themselves did not seem to be malfunctioning... but it was impossible to tell for sure since he had no real idea what the limit of this power he'd obtained was. Where did it end? At what point did his body quit under the strain of his spirit's energy? At the moment the only thing of importance on Katsuo's mind was stopping Oroku which numbed him to the pain throbbing in his head and body but in the back of his mind he knew that he was overdoing it. The spirit of Tatsumasa was conspicuously silent on the matter but he could feel her disapproval and concern towards his health. This scene needed to come to an end soon before the rapidly mounting problems his energy was causing him forced him into an early retirement from the conflict.

[Re-activating Devestating Aura and casting Reaper's Gaze using Insidious Gaze on Oroku to make him hold still.]

 

[Toraono Kuro]

The attackers were trapped by sinking sands and Kuro knew then he had little else to do but help track down the culprit in charge but his Sharingan was locked on offensive movement. It would take him a moment to try and trace chakra mid battle. With a nod of approval towards Harupia whose chakra immediately blanketed the area Kuro began searching for unknown chakra sources. After making two kinetic bubbles over the remains of the storefront Kuro walked forward using genjutsu from his eyes to cast temple of nirvana upon all the criminals still alive so that they may be used for the ceremony to come. Oroku should he be found would suffer a different fate. HE WOULD NOT BE SPARED... this one Kuro would kill if he found him. Sharingan Kuro quickly homed in on Masashi Katsuo after nodding to Harupia in thanks. He had someone cornered between him and another Anbu it seemed. Hopefully it was the one everyone sought after so they could have his head and be done with this disturbing mess.

 

[Michi]

OC: Sorry, not a lot for my character to do.

IC: It seemed that she really was not much help. There was some commotion external to the fray, it seemed that something heated was transpiring over there. The citizens, some awakening from their zombie-like state and others continuing on as if they were crazed beasts. The winds howled about her, moving the sugary debris as if it was a dust-storm. She let out a sigh as her hands moved through a series of handseals, she could at the very least ensure the survival of the baker and his large scary ally. She should simply escape this fray but it was more practical to remain in place, with degenerates running a-muck in the streets and a madman at the front door, she was in the safest place she could be.

[Shiori casts Regeneration on both Olgav and Oleg]

 

[Raizo]

It seemed he had made contact with the main villain but before he could take pride in his accomplishment he was targeted by some flying petals. Having to react to keep from whatever their intentions were, he would have to remove himself from a state of stealth. He now appeared, weapon still ready, for a showdown with the jackass of a similar name. Before that battle of Roku's could occur he would find himself avoiding some green substance being slung his way. If that was not enough, during that whole moment another appeared. This figure had a presence to him that did not sit well with the masked ANBU but it appeared they were both hunting the same prey. The man, now realized to be one of the individuals who was assisting the madness below, barked out towards Oroku.

During this moment, waiting to see what the villain would do, Kasha would notice the scene below once more. The mob of individuals were trapped in sand and begin to explode in a rain of acid upon one another. It was a grim sight. These individuals had no hope, at this point their death was guaranteed but was not going to be swift nor humane. Regardless of their status before being brought into this mess, it seemed their lives had been forfeited awhile back as Oroku had strapped them with these bombs. Kasha could only look down with hatred and disgust.

Life... being wasted...

Before this whole situation the man behind the mask of Kasha had been undergoing his own existential crisis, and seeing the lives being sacrificed below without a care in the world was almost a direct slap in his face. He was saved, why couldn't they? He had been brought back from death's door multiple times but these people now hung in the clenches of hell. Their lives were wasted. Their lives were lost. Could they be saved? Would he save them?

"Rainbow."

The word would come out clearly and audibly, with a cold undertone. This was not the choice he enjoyed, this was not what he wanted to see done but within his mind the lives of those trapped in the sand were now gone. They were merely the walking dead. His attention would snap back to Oroku and Katsuo as this standoff would continue.

From the windows the clones, upon hearing the words, would raise up with projectiles in their arms and look down on the madness. Their objective was to aim for the mob of 'bad guys' and since they first started the scenery below had changed greatly. Now the distinction between target and non-target was very clear; those trapped in the sand exploding one-by-one seemed to be who they needed to target. After processing momentarily the three, appearing like villains themselves, would begin to unleash a barrage of projectiles upon those trapped in the sand pit. As the first wave of shinobi items finished pouring down and the clones prepared their next wave, there would be a ring of explosions that would echo forth from the sand. Flames would shout upwards as another wave of hellfire would be sent down upon the poor, trapped masses.

This was hell.

MFT - 534

 

[Sunaku Harupia]

It seems his idea, while quick, was pretty effective. Not the most flashy technique or bind, but with how tightly the group was gather it proved to be very effective. And it allowed him to defend the bakery and his other allies quite sufficiently, letting them move forward, probably to seek out the mastermind behind this whole debacle. He even received a nod of gratitude from the Toranao Sennin himself. And yet there he stood, almost rooted in place, maintaining the sinkhole, staring at those captured in it...as they one by one seemed to explode into an acidic mess after they bloated as if they were suffering from a plague...the shouts of those near them before they exploded themselves...He stared in morbid horror, knowing he couldn’t stop the jutsu or else they would spread out and explode in his our someone’s else face...and yet he couldn’t just stand there and watch these people die in such a morbid way...what could he possibly do?

Kuro and the other man fighting in the middle of this crowd were not nearby. He turned to the shop to see the brother united again, and the women inside standing close to them...Healing them perhaps? A medic could find a way to help these people. With a hint of hope in his voice he would called out "Excuse me mam, are you possibly a...what the..." he muttered to himself as the figures came out from the windows. He thought he did see a few people in the buildings as he ran in but he thought they were just hiding civilians or something...But then he noticed the notes they had in their hands...lit explosive notes.

All he could do was call out "STOP!", but even that didn’t have much of a chance to register, his shout coming out as the tags were midflight. And so, the sight of the sickening exploding bodies and acidic ooze, was replaced by familiar sound of the notes going off, a pillar of flames emerging from the pitfall's he made. There was...nothing he could do now. He stepped back earning absent the wall, moving away from the heat of the flames, breathing heavily, the Sinkhole still being maintained. Now it was more of an instinct. More damage would come if the flaming bodies would start running around to those above would try and throw more notes... He did humor the thought that at some point he had died, and this was hell's way of tormenting him. Seeing these flames made those rambling seem all the more plausible.

 

[Sand Council]

Oroku<i></i>​

Oroku made the mistake of turning to face the new overbearing force of Katsuo and found himself frozen. Like time itself all seemed to freeze.

At the storefront were the valiant defenders of sweetness and justice. Kuro, the Demonbeast King had done well and not a single soul entered into the storefront. Oleg and Olaf had both supplemented where the defense did not hold. Brothers reunited in battle. Harupia, with the grace and power of a full-fledged Sunaku, had brought the siege to a brilliant standstill in a single technique. Masterful and tailored to be non-lethal. Shiori had attempted to track the devious mastermind, Oroku, but his trickery had proven too much. In all of her efforts, she had managed to knock a few out of the chemically-induced stupor and saved a few lost souls. Maybe they would see it as a second chance and do right by the village. Then there was Kasha, the avenger of the Sunan innocents, slayer of dastards, and a mystery to so many.

There stood Sunagakure's best hope for survival, the lot of sunan shinobi who dare stand against the Anarchy and provide order.

In one screaming, violent moment it all came to an end.

Sharp whistling filled the air as projectiles rained down from above and the sand pit that was meant to be a safe haven turned death trap was used as a mass burial site. One large explosion rocked the street, smoke and dust blowing like a gale in every direction. In spite of the distressed call, nothing could be done and all of those struggling in the pit ceased to exist. Dust in the wind; a sentiment Wind Country understood all too well.

There was an painful silence soon after. Complete and utter loss of everything.

Oroku stuck in place and facing the power-imbued Katsuo, he stared in astonishment at his sudden defeat.

"What will you do now, brave hero? Hmmmm? What does this mean to you? Throw me back into prison where you'll attempt to 'recondition' me? I'll just be back out again, and next time I'll do more than just poison some worthless inmates."<i></i>

Oleg | Olgav​

From below the roof top, Oleg and Olgav stepped out the front door and embraced, their hug sending out a small clap of thunder as their large bodies collided.

"It is most wonderful to see you, brother Oleg! What brings you to sandy hole-in-ground?" The gigantes of brother paid no mind to the mindless deaths that had just occurred, standing just outside like a pair might on a peer, gazing at the ocean. Oleg slammed a massive hand against Olgav's back, one that would have toppled any normal person, and responded, "Word on street not bode well for sandy village. Oleg come to help squishy brother Olgav, and not too soon!" A hearty laugh sounded from the man, and he looked at Harupia, "Sand man here helped Oleg find Olgav. Good man Harupia!"

While Oleg was a little bit more dense and thrived in an environment like that the Cabal had established, Olgav was a bit more sensitive to those around him and took note of Harupia's distress. They were not complete strangers, the baker and the artist, having crossed paths numerous times during village events. Parting from his brother, Olgav neared Harupia and leaned over to better meet his gaze --the brothers were extraordinarily tall.

"Haru-san, are you okay?" The gruesome deaths those suffered in the pit were not lost on the man; he, much like his brother, had an uncanny ability to keep those emotions padded away until a better time came to review them. "Their deaths serve purpose."[color] He said, practically reading his mind. A large hand gestured into the bakery and he led the way in. "Bakery is more than sweets shop. It is safe haven!" Olgav went behind his counter, still gesturing for those curious to follow and went into his back room. There were tons of baking supplies, assorted baking tins, and many other thing one would expect to find. On one wall was a massive metal door, one that seemed thicker and more well-locked than a cooler door needed to be. Stopping in front of it, he went through a thorough series of movements that result in much clicking metal and sliding latches. Soon the door parted way and let out a frigid hiss of cool air. Instead of a walk-in cooler, there was a set of stairs that led down into the depths of the unknown. A soft buzzing noise came up from the tunnel. At first it would be hard to establish its source, but if one listened hard enough, they could tell it was the hum of people talking and holding conversations--Shiori instantly knowing the sheer mass of people below-- "See Harupia? This place is haven! Neighbors expressed their worry and Olgav take it away like fat child upon dessert!"

Suddenly, it was very clear why Oroku had decided to invest so heavily in an attack against Senti-mints. Underneath it was a fortified bunker that housed all the inhabitants of the local neighborhood. Holed up safely behind tons of rock and steel and protected by the benevolent baker.

Several dozen people inhabited the tunnels beneath Olgav's bakery. There were large rooms filled with bunk beds. While not a personal living space, it was secure and safe and supplied with wonderful food by their host. One room was filled with stacks of papers and folders. If anyone bothered to peruse the folds, they would discover intelligence reports in abundance on the village and everything that was going on. While he may appear a brutish baker on the outside, Olgav was no one's fool. It was an underground base that was stocked to handle the end of the world. Numerous tunnels led to other parts of the village and would provide safe travel for any looking to sneak around and leave little trace on the surface. Among the families gathered, several shinobi had volunteered to aid in Olgav's efforts and were responsible for watching the other entrances into the stronghold and gathering information where they could.

"I have been busy, busy boy!"

 

[Mikaboshi]

"If I thought..." Katsuo's words were strained as if he were trying to hold up a great deal of weight above his head. Indeed, he struggled against the desire to take Oroku's life on the spot. "... for even a moment that everything which has happened could be put to an end by taking your life, I would rip you apart myself. But it won't. Killing you isn't going to bring back those men you sent to their deaths. The only thing left for me now is to make sure you can't hurt anybody else."

Looming over Oroku, Katsuo's words were as much to himself as they were to the terrorist. Giving voice to the tugs of his conscience which he felt at the back of his heart which was so angry helped him let go of that anger and calm the maelstrom of emotion that whirled in his chest. Shaking his head, Katsuo moved to where Oroku was and released the clenched fists that he'd been holding so hard that his hands were beginning to bruise. In light of the lancing pain that was still slowly mounting in his joints and especially in his head just behind his eyes, he'd failed to even notice about the minor injuries to his hands. The spirit of Tatsumasa urged him to bring the confrontation to a close for his own safety and though he did not audibly respond to her, he silently willed his agreement. She clearly knew something about what was happening to him that she needed to explain to him but could not distract him from the fight lest it cause him injury.

"If you surrender peacefully, I'll see to it that you're allowed to live long enough to stand for your crimes. I'm not really interested in continuing to hurt you but if you choose to resist, you will force me to kill you." There was total honesty in Katsuo's words. He had every intention of ensuring that Oroku was safely incarcerated for the time being until such a time that they could properly assess what to do with him without killing him on the spot out of revenge for his crimes. It was very likely that he would wind up dead anyway and the Masashi knew this. Sunagakure justice was not well known for it's tolerance of sedition. But if Oroku's fate was ultimately to die then Katsuo would have it be at his hands following a just trial rather than a back-alley murder out of hate. Still, just as his offer for safe surrender held the ring of sincerity so too did Katsuo's promise that he would end Oroku's life was equally as honest. There could be no doubt between them that Katsuo could kill just as quickly and easily as he had immobilized. "Perhaps in the mean time between now and your trial you can think of a way to be useful to us against the Cabal. It's never too late to turn your talents towards the greater good."

He doubted Oroku would take his advice regarding turning over a new leaf. It was plain from the way the terrorist carried himself that he enjoyed the suffering of others and there was seldom, if ever, a use in attempting to appeal to their reason. But still, for him to be a just man. For him to be a just king... he had to try. Anything less would simply be barbarism. Focusing his chakra, Katsuo reigned in his raging aura and quashed it for the time being while being careful not to allow his grip on Oroku to deteriorate. He needed to hear the terrorist's response before he released him. If Oroku refused Katsuo's offer of clemency or decided to attack or flee once the bind was broken then Katuso would take action but until then he waited for Oroku's response.

 

[Toraono Kuro]

Sharingan Kuro waded through Katsuo's dominating aura with the grit that could only come from being touched by demon blood and forged by daily combat. "If you want to offer him respite despite what he has done, then I will not stand against you Masashi Katsuo as a Sennin I would only grant this one death. I am however of the mind to reign in any authority or need for his soul I might have in favor of justice."<i></i> Sharingan Kuro felt the pull of his other sides as they engaged in battles and actions all over Sunagakure. He needed to move out and assist whichever of his six sides was in the most danger. Nodding to Katsuo and the others whom already had the situation finally under control he leapt atop the nearby building where Kasha's clones had performed their mercy killings. One of his alternate forms pulled for his presence and with a flash of chakra Sharingan Kuro was pulled away in a thunderous pulse of summoning jutsu. The Cabal had underestimated Sunan resolve, now he would pull one of their cards on them.

Topic left

 

[Michi]

OC: Not very good post by me, but epic pictures.

IC:
So much noise...

Shiori saw nothing, the resounding blast rocked her small frame and assaulted her senses. It was nothing more than a distorted haze that came crashing down like a wave, and then silence less the monotone whistle that pervaded her brain in the wake of the devastation. The defenders of the bakery had departed before the destruction, she knew not where. She looked at the pit in abject horror at the carnage, while she could not see the blood she could see the mangled and charred remains. Her efforts were for naught, a lot of people just died. She had told herself that she did not care but there was a moment of breathlessness just then. Her single-minded pursuit of her cousin was side-tracked even if only for moments. She would soon forget this dismay and threaten everyone's lives by attempting to traverse the Maw, a future she had not yet lived.

A pair of monoliths as men met as manly men do.What Shiori "saw":

Could not resist.​

[col]

|

[/col]​

After a brotherly reunion and a discussion between the "Sandman" and a mountain became an impromptu tour. Shiori wordlessly slipped in behind Harupia and the brothers. She could hear the chatter below once the tumblers clicked in place and the fortified door was ajar. Her ears, still humming twitched all the same. What is--", she answered her own question as she followed them inside. She was illiterate so she could not read any of the intelligence that the baker had obtained over the past few days or perhaps longer. "So this is why..." Shiori stated out-loud, her voice carried with it a sense of wonder. No wonder such an effort was placed by miscreants to destroy the bakery and the man behind it.

"I have been busy, busy boy!"

"How did you do this so quick?" Shiori asked. So much was happening in Sunagakure and she understood not nearly enough of what had transpired. It is unlikely that this was built in the last forty-eight hours, but much like a bomb shelter, one does not build one after a bomb has been dropped. All the same, he seemed organized, more organized than a normal baker would be. While the walls and the tunnels had likely been where they were for quite some time, the residents and the intelligence were both different matters. The tunnels appeared to go for quite a distance in places, her ears could not hear a terminal point. Before she left, she wanted to know more about this place.